Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley returned to the Toronto FC lineup on Saturday. The game did not end on a happy note, though, as TFC lost their home game to Sporting Kansas City, 3-1.
After scoring a hat trick against Orlando City SC and the team's poor performance against SKC, TFC fans had to wonder if Sebastian Giovinco was better off without his two USMNT teammates.
The numbers that tell this story are unclear. Below are Giovinco's numbers when both players start a game with him, when just one player starts with him, and when both players miss the game.
| Sebastian Giovinco with/without Jozy Altidore & Michal Bradley | |||||
| Stat | Games | Goals | Assists | Touches/90 | TFC PPG |
| With both | 10 | 4 | 5 | 46.8 | 1.1 |
| With just Altidore | 4 | 3 | 3 | 45.0 | 1.75 |
| With just Bradley | 3 | 1 | 2 | 47.3 | 2 |
| Without both | 5 | 8 | 1 | 40.8 | 1.2 |
These statistics are a bit of a mixed bag. Giovinco's goalscoring rate is at its highest when he plays without Bradley and Altidore, buoyed by his two hat tricks against New York City FC and Orlando City SC. But his team's points-per-game number is at its highest when he starts with just Bradley.
Of course those two points-per-game, and the 1.75 PPG with just Altidore, come from rather small sample sizes. Another problem with the above data is that the majority of the games when all three have played together came at the beginning of the season, when Toronto played their first seven games on the road.
So are Giovinco and Toronto better off without Bradley and Altidore? Of course not. These are two of the most decorated players in US national team history. It just so happens Giovinco had a couple outstanding games when the two of them weren't on the field.
Other stats-related pieces:
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Manager for a Day: How to make the pieces fit in NYCFC's midfield
Which teams have the easiest road to the 2015 postseason?
